OWINGS MILLS, Md. — After leaving in the first quarter of Sunday night’s game against Pittsburgh with a reported concussion, tight end Dennis Pitta immediately began feeling better and the Ravens are optimistic he will return to action this week against San Diego.

It was the second straight week that Pitta had been shaken up after he briefly left the Ravens’ 55-20 win over Oakland in Baltimore last Sunday. The third-year tight end was evaluated for concussion-like symptoms before being cleared to return to action.

However, he was unable to bounce back in the same way after being hit by Steelers safety Ryan Clark and inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons.

“We held him out — had some symptoms — but by the end of the game [and] during the game he was fine,” Harbaugh said. “At the end of the game, he showed no symptoms. He’s feeling really good today, so he should be fine. But, he’ll have to go through the protocol that we put our guys through and it’s a very strict protocol.”

Harbaugh also offered clarity on the status of nose tackle Terrence Cody, who missed Sunday’s game with an elbow injury. Cody suffered the injury last week and was unable to get the elbow loose enough during pre-game warmups to give the Ravens enough confidence that he’d be able to engage blockers along the defensive line.

He was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game before ultimately being listed as inactive.

“He had tweaked his elbow in practice,” Harbaugh said. “We did not think it was going to be an issue. We thought he was going to be fine, [but] the swelling just never came out of it.”

Harbaugh reported a few other minor injuries as reserve safety James Ihedigbo suffered a neck strain and newly-signed cornerback Chris Johnson left the game with a hamstring injury sustained during Jacoby Jones’ 63-yard punt return for a touchdown. Tight end Ed Dickson also suffered a “little bit of an ankle” tweak in Harbaugh’s words.

Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (knee/shoulder) and Jones (ankle) both made it through the game without any setbacks, according to Harbaugh. Inside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe also continues to play through a thumb injury.

Defensive end Pernell McPhee missed his third straight game as he continues to recover from knee and thigh injuries. The second-year defensive lineman practiced on a limited basis last Wednesday and Thursday before sitting out Friday’s workout and being listed as doubtful for the Pittsburgh game.

The perceived decline in activity led many to wonder whether McPhee had suffered a setback — especially after declaring himself close to “100 percent” last Thursday — but the Baltimore coach cleared up any confusion and reminded everyone he wasn’t the one who had discussed McPhee’s progress.

“He’s working hard. There was no setback,” Harbaugh said. “He’s on schedule very soon. This week’s a possibility. Last week, in all fairness, was not a possibility, so I just want to make it clear who made the ‘100 percent’ statement and who didn’t.”

McPhee has not played in a game since before their Week 8 bye.

1 Comments For This Post

First of all Luke I think you do an outstanding job and this not necessarily directed at you but more to everyone in the media…local and national. I think now is the time to no longer consider a concussion a “minor injury” after all the research and stories that have come out over the years. By minimizing it you (meaning everyone in the media) emphasize to children and high school kids to minimize it as well and therefore treat it as a minor injury. I just don’t think the swelling of the brain due to blunt force trauma is minor.

(L.J. – Understood, Chris, but the media are often just reporting what teams are describing as “minor” concussions. Now, that wasn’t the case here in reference to the headline, but Harbaugh’s assessment that Pitta’s symptoms had subsided during the game led to that. However, I do agree with your overall take.)